Perhaps
by Aeliyah D'Aro
Summary: Under different circumstances, would Victor have chosen Emily?


The Return of the Bride: Perhaps

By Aeliyah D'Aro

Disclaimer: I do not own Corpse Bride nor any of the characters. Warning! This story does not carry much of the innocence that the movie has- this show has carried on, and the characters are "descendants" of the original cast. This story takes place in a whole separate time period, one where taverns come about, women are still oppressed and one where divorce was (finally) legalized (thanks to Henry VIII). In this story, Emily, is not just a delicate flower.

_Another place, another time, under circumstances… Perhaps._

Emily combed out her long dark hair; she was backstage, ready for her time as a songbird. She leaned forward as she did the final touch-ups on her eyes, smoky and wispy, they emphasised on the shapes of her eyes as she returned to her original position, easily placing some rouge on her lips. She leant against her chair and looked self-consciously upon herself. Her husband owned the dingy tavern that she worked in, though unheard of, it was not uncommon for women for work as showgirls in this time, but only the most desperate or those that had by some means... Been forced to.

Her outfit was not the best kind of outfit, much unlike her mother's wedding dress she had worn when she had wed to this Lord. Lord he was, but not of the noble kind. He had inherited his title from his family bloodline, and now, he had spent his money on a tavern, and the woman he had wed to was to work for him at no cost, her dowry used up on the upkeep to his tavern. So much for her being Lady Emily Bittern, she would have rather kept her maiden name then to have lost her dignity performing to a crowd such as this.

The low-cut dress flaunted the assets that she had, outlining the round bursts of her chest and the slender outline of her waist, influenced by the many years of wearing a corset, as well as the swell of her hips which indicated she was well ready for childbirth and finally, slit through the front showing her slender creamy legs. Now she had no corset as her husband wanted her to be "authentic" to the world out there. The disgrace of it all, but she had little say of the matter. Her parents were miles away, her husband was controlling, and kept the door locked at night he did. The house they had was also inherited; they barely lived flamboyantly with her home-dresses simple and in that relatively decent sized house, the two in it were symbolic of loneliness and a sad state of affairs.

"Emily! It's your turn!" came the ring in her authoritative husband's voice.

"Of course darling…" she murmured as she passed him, jumping slightly as his hand met her bottom, grasping it firmly.

She shivered. He never hit her, but he had a rough manner that exuded power.

She went onto the stage with her painted smile, and the crowd of dirty men cheered as she clasped the microphone in her gentle fingers. She crooned a low song as she stepped through the crowd of men, some tucked money into her cleavage after copping a feeling, and others ran over her body, tucking money here, kissing there, grabbing this, pulling that.

There was only one other man that did not reach for her, whilst his companion did.

She heard a vague whisper of voices over her own as she sang, "Go on, Victor! Give it a shot!"

_Victor?_ She thought, _nice name_ as she gave him a wink.

She smiled brilliantly as he reddened and lowered his head as she slid to the piano and left the microphone there and she sang a song whilst she played the piano, her slender fingers flying neatly over the keys as her song soothed the men in the tavern.

As the rest of the band took over, she stood up and danced over to the stage and she gave them a neat twirl as she dreamily danced whilst her voice did the work before she settled on the stage, giving the crowd the seductive yet wistful glance. She bit her lower lip before she arose and settled at the bar, picking up a drink and downing it in a gulp.

"Alas, the lady drinks…" came a small voice, almost feeble.

She turned and she smiled at this newcomer, it was the man she had noticed during her performance. "Give me three guesses, not counting the first two and I'd say you are… Victor." With his small smile, he nodded, "M-might I ask how the fair lady knows?"

Emily laughed, a tinkling delicate sound before she spoke again, "Let's just call it women's intuition…"

A dark shadow fell over her drink as the Lord appeared behind Victor's shoulder, "Who's this boy?"

Emily's smile faded, "Just a member of the audience come to tell me how wonderful my performance was, appreciative, unlike the Lord I married."

Lord Bittern's expression clouded up as he pushed Victor aside and pulled Emily to her feet, "Pardon me young boy, she simply had too much to drink."

Emily pushed the Lord off her as she shook her head indignantly, "I did not have too much to drink! So suddenly, you care about whom I meet and what I drink?"

She turned on her heels as she turned and strode right out into the street. Her long dark hair left the lingering scent of roses as she slammed the door behind her. She strode into the distance, not caring that her outfit attracted stares, her reputation was her husband's, and she intended to damage it as much as she could.

She slid into a side alley, not too noticeable as she slid down against the wall, though not the cleanest area to sit, she did not care. She crossed her long legs as she sat there in silence and cursed the name she now carried. Footsteps echoed as she heard a voice, "Emily?" it was the voice of her husband.

"Ah, the Lord looks for his wife." She murmured bitterly, "the one who lies beside him at night," she shook out her head of long hair, as she stood up, "well, he won't have her!"

She strode back out in the street and entered the tavern, bolted the door as she settled herself at the piano as she closed her eyes. Placing her fingers upon the keys, she began a slow song- mournful, much like her current state, before evolving into a furious fast song, she stopped in the midst as she let the tears fall upon the keys.

"Is the Lady alright?" came the voice she had heard only today,

Emily opened her eyes as she turned away, wiping her tears from her face as she took a breath to settle herself, "How did you get in?"

"I heard your song, and I entered from the back door…" Victor replied as he offered her a hand to stand and she took it as she stood in front of him.

"Thank you Victor, but as you can tell, I have the most unfortunate state of affairs," she groaned as she showed him the ring she had around her neck, the one with the Lord's name upon it.

The back door thudded as she unbolted the front door and pushed him out of it, locking it behind her as her husband stepped through soon enough, dusting off his coat. "Emily, do not ever do that again."

"Or what? A terrible misfortune befalls me?" she spat the words on her mind in a short harsh statement.

He strode forward as he grasped her slender arms, and she tried to shake him off, "Let go of me!" she cried as she tried to push him away.

Lord Bittern's hand curled around her necklace as he wrenched it from her neck as he lifted it in front of her face, "This… Shows that I own you…"

He pulled at her sleeves and tore the top half of the dress right off her, "I clothe you!"

He picked a beer on the table and threw it in her face, "I feed you!"

He leant forward menacingly, "What more do you want from me?"

Emily was infuriated, "You do NOT own me! You feed me! You barely clothe me, you own your bleeding tavern by means of my dowry, my voice, my talents, my body! And you do not even appreciate it!"

The Lord was beetroot red, "You! Are meant to respect me!"

"Like how you respect me? Or how you respect the money I had before I married you?" Emily snapped back.

Lord Bittern advanced forward, his hands like curved talons as he reached out towards her. Emily let out a shrill scream. His fingers curved around her delicate neck as he began to squeeze, his fingers slowly choking her, Emily weakly struggled under his grasp as she tried to move away.

"Leave the Lady alone!" came a confident voice, Emily's eyes widened as she saw Victor standing in the doorway. "I have called the constable with the phone in the street, and told him to make haste before the Lord flees the scene of a murder."

Emily choked as Lord Bittern released his grip on her neck, the bruises forming- at first just a dark red mark. She spluttered as she lay on the floor, her vision was swimming. She gasped for breath, her tears falling from her eyes, Victor sat beside her as she realised he had a pistol pointing at her husband. She smugly thought that at least her husband was now silent, she massaged her throat as she coughed, Victor placed his coat around her shoulders as a bunch of men burst through the door, the detective calmly stepped through as he looked at Emily and at the Lord.

"And, here we have you Lord Bittern. Arrest this man for attempted murder." He turned towards the Lady as he bowed. "Might I be right to assume that the Lord attempted to strangle you?"

Emily nodded silently. She removed her fingers as she let the detective examine the bruises on her throat. The detective made a note of the mark on the bruise on the position of the fourth finger as he smiled, "I think we've got him this time. We've suspected that he has conned and murdered several brides around the different states, our tracks have taken us to his tavern several times."

She looked at him questioningly, "That means, madam, if this young sir had not called us, you would have been one of the unlucky number, he probably kept you as long as he did so that you could be a source of income for him."

"How many?" she croaked.

"Six, madam," he responded kindly as he pat Victor's hand as he stood up.

The detective left them in silence and the door soon closed as Victor offered her his hand once again as he helped her to her feet. "Thank you so much… Victor" she murmured softly with a smile.

Victor nodded, "Anything for you madam."

"Do call me Emily."

"E-emily..? I never thought I'd say this, in light of recent circumstances, but you are the most beautiful woman I have seen."

"Do you, Victor? Did you think that before or after you saw my husband attempt to murder me?" Emily asked teasingly with a small smile on her lips.

"What husband? There wasn't any ring to indicate that he'd ever been part of your life." Victor retorted. His lips curled into a small smile after hearing her laughter once again as she leant forward and hugged him. "Thank you…"


End file.
